The Border Collies

Jack

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Disclosures

Unless specifically stated otherwise in the individual post, beginning Nov. 1, 2009, every book read and "reviewed" on Books 'N Border Collies was purchased for my private collection or came from the public library system.

I am an Amazon Associate and some of the links in posts do lead to Amazon.

NOTICE: (Updated March 5, 2010)

Beginning December 19, 2009, Books 'N Border Collies will be posting but only intermittently while I pursue personal goals. I plan to share some reading I'm doing, but there will be no reviews. I will, however, be sharing my exploration of vegetarian cooking and the cookbooks and websites I use to educate myself. I hope you enjoy it!

Lezlie

Thursday, January 31, 2008

I need my head examined. Didn't I say just yesterday that the two (two!!) challenges I joined yesterday would be it? Here's my new thinking: I'm going to join 100 challenges this year. That should cover any other lapses in judgment I may have over the next 11 months. :-) As if I need to explain myself to other book addicts, here is my reason for joining the Short Story Challenge: Sometimes a person just wants to read something really short. Enough said.

Since I'm a short story extreme novice, I will choose Option #1 -- 10 short stories by 10 different authors. I won't include the Edgar Allan Poe story I read earlier this month, as I was not officially in the Challenge at the time. I will, however, list the ones I read here:

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

OK. This is it. My last challenge for the year. (Now you can laugh. . .) At least 8 books published in 2008. The cool part? I plan on all audiobooks so I can keep up with some of the authors and series I've read that are still currently publishing. The list may change depending on what is actually released. Sadly, publishing omniscience is not one of my fortes. Wouldn't that be cool if it was, though? :-)

OK. I'm in. I have a rational reason though! Stop snickering. I really do have a rational reason. This will not add any new books to my list. It will only give me another reason to read the bigger ones that are on there instead of only picking up the smaller ones for a quick finish. The rules are at least 4 books of a minimum of 450 pages. My choices are:

Saturday, January 26, 2008

This book is the sequel to Follett's Pillars of the Earth, which is one of my favorite books of all time. World Without End takes place about 200 years after Pillars, and is the story of the descendants of the builders of the cathedral and founders of the town. It's a huge book (as is Pillars) , but it's never boring. There isn't even a good way to quickly sum up what it is about. So much happens in 1000+ pages that all I can say is, "Hang on to your hats!"

What I really love about these books is that the author is not afraid to let bad things happen to good people. And believe me, a lot of bad stuff happens: Successful families topple, peasants lose what little they have, evil lords wreak havoc, unscrupulous monks yield to ambition. (Readers beware: There are a couple of rapes in the book and while not terribly graphic, they are disturbing.) Not that I'm a scholar on medieval life, but it all seemed very realistic to me. It was a hard existence back then. Not that I want bad stuff to happen to good characters, but it keeps you on the edge of your seat never being certain that everything is really going to be all right. And the bad guys don't always pay. But when they do, it is, oh, so satisfying. . . I sound a bit blood thirsty, don't I? Sorry about that. I do find myself getting emotionally caught up in the lives of these characters even after the last page is turned. Just for the record, a lot of good stuff happens, too. And it will be all you can do to not cheer out loud. I, however, was not able to maintain, and I whooped with joy. Thankfully, I was listening to it in my car, and no one was any the wiser. :-)

Have I at least intrigued some of you even though I've told you nothing? I hope so. It's a big commitment to read these, but I truly believe you will not find the time wasted. I listened to the unabridged audio version on my commute, and found it was a great way to not only fit another enormous book into my reading schedule (I was also reading War & Peace at the time), but I almost wished for a traffic jam!

When a gun accident in a small but growing town leaves one kid dead, the community deals with the aftermath while emotions boil over.

This book was listed as one of the Best of 2007 in Bookmarks Magazine. I'm not sure what I think of this one. While it was kind of interesting, I felt strangely detached from the book. I never found a character to love and cheer for, or even one to hate for that matter. The book has some great scenes depicting rural v. suburban life, adolescent angst, misguided political fanaticism, and differing but equally understandable views about guns and gun control. There is a lot here, but I never really felt it. Could just be me. When it comes to books about angry teenagers, I find myself fearing hideous, gratuitous violence, usually directed at animals, to prove how "bad" a character is. I probably steeled myself a little too well for this possibility. Fortunately, the author is not one to go the cheap route, and my fears never materialized. (Thank you, Mr. LaMarche!) The downside is that the parts that I maybe would have been more moved by under normal circumstances went by all but unnoticed while I waited for the hammer to fall.

Once I have a chance to see if I find myself mulling over American Youth as time goes by, I think there may be a good chance I will discover it made more of an impression on me than I thought it did.

Awesome game last night! The team with the best record in the NBA (Celtics) v. the worst (T-Wolves), and we lost by one point in the last seconds of the game. My boys were right there with them the whole time and nearly came away with the victory. Next time, guys! You have your chance to pay them back in two weeks, and Peter and I will be there cheering you on!

Speaking of being there, our sales guy is giving us courtside seats for tomorrow's game against the NJ Nets!!!!! One of his season ticket holders can't make the game, so he's passing them on to us as a gesture of appreciation for supporting the team during rebuilding. How cool is that??

Go Wolves!!

In the meantime, I finished up American Youth and will be starting Mrs. Dalloway this afternoon. Reviews coming right up!

Friday, January 25, 2008

I loved Aesop's fables as a kid, and I thought it would be great fun to go back and read them now as an adult. I chose the Penguin Classics version and my plan was to read them bit by bit. So much for that plan. I read the whole things in about 2 nights. I have to say the stories are not near as enchanting when they're not being rendered for children. Straight translation tends to leave out a bit of the magic. However, it was still entertaining to see many familiar tales again. You still grin and shake your head when the Raven loses her meal to the flattering Mr. Fox. And "The Travelers and the Bear" is very cute!

There are certain advantages to the PG versions of the Fables. I'm pretty sure my favorite line would never have shown up in Little Golden Books. (You'll have to read "The Lion and the Ass Go Hunting Together" for that one. . . )

Overall, while most of the stories are simplistic and many are just plain odd to our modern sensibilities, and the morals written to go with them are usually pretty silly, there is a lot of wisdom to be found between the smiles.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

The object of the Challenge is to pick 8 categories of your choosing and read 8 books in each of those categories in 2008. I opted for no cross-overs within this Challenge*, but most of them are included in other Challenges and Projects. Here is my list:

11/22/08 -- What a mess I've made here! In order to focus on other Challenges with a better chance of not making my head hurt, I am officially abandoning this challenges as of today. I've signed up for the 2009 version, The Countdown Challenge, which is a nice straight-forward plan that I can't wreck with topical indecision. See you there!

* As the year progressed, I realized that this was terribly unrealistic. There are cross-overs included now, but not too many.** Changed selection on 1/26/08 as I found I may not be able to aquire a copy of my original selection of Exercises In Style by Raymond Queneau. If I do get my hands on a copy, I will still try to read it this year.

Yaaahoooooo!! !! A BIG win over the Phoenix Suns!! That's two in a row for my beloved Minnesota Timberwolves!! It's been a rough year, so we're basking in any and all success!! :-) Next up: KG and the Boston Celtics on Friday. Go Wolves!!

OK. Off my basketball soapbox and back to books.

For a while there I wondered why people said things like, "I can't believe I'm joining yet another challenge." I get it now. I'm about to take the plunge into the Triple 8. Yikes. But I've reached the conclusion that these challenges are the only way I will deviate meaningfully from the 1001 Books Project and make room on some of these shelves. I wrote up my Excel Spreadsheet to keep track of all my Challenges (Go ahead. Laugh. I did.), and I'm pretty sure I'm biting off quite a bit more than I can chew. I'm going for it though. Why not? Life is short. Make ridiculously enormous plans! :-) I've never planned my reading for an entire year before, so we'll see how this goes. I've left open spots for 8 impulsive "1001 Books", so I have a little bit of wiggle room in case I start feeling rebellious.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

I promised myself (and Peter) that if I decided to commit to these reading challenges, I would use the opportunity to clean off some of my "to be read" shelves rather than just to create reasons to go to the bookstore. I hesitated on the actual TBR Challenge only because I was so focused on the 1001 Books Project. But there are more books in the world! (And on my shelves . . .) Therefore, here we go:

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

What if cancer and many other diseases could be cured, but the method is so heinous it would be kept from not only the general public but from the donors themselves? Where do you draw the moral line between the health of yourself and your loved ones and the life of another being? This book paints a ghastly portrait of the lengths to which some will go and how ignorant we can choose to be. It's done in so beautiful a prose that even though you suspect the disturbing truth, you can lie to yourself all the way to the end. But deep down, you do know. And you are forced to examine your own hypocrisy.

I still am not sure how to answer some of the questions I asked myself when I put the book down. And I didn't like my answers to some of the others. I appear to have some work to do to bring my actions in line with what I profess to believe. Ignorance really is bliss. Or is it?

This book reminded me a lot of The Handmaid's Tale. Not the story itself, but how it was written. I enjoy first person point of view, and there is something very appealing about being spoken to as if you understand all the odd terminology and then finding out whether or not your assumptions were correct or not. However, not all questions are definitively answered by the end of Never Let Me Go. I think that's what makes it so powerful. I don't rate books, but I have a feeling this is one that I'll be thinking about for a long time to come.

For a different point of view, see John's review at Book Mine Set (Part I and Part II). Just so you know, there are some spoilers there. He also has links in his comments to more blog reviews. Happy exploring!

Saturday, January 19, 2008

I read War & Peace for absolutely the most ignoble of reasons: Just to be able to say I did. Like any of my friends were actually going to be impressed. For most of them, my quest only proved my literary insanity. They are entitled to their opinion. I think they're jealous. Not. :-)

Seriously though, I expected a slow, difficult experience. Imagine my surprise, nearly glee, when I discovered I genuinely liked the book and cared for many of the characters. I felt Andrei's dissapointment when he realized many of his superiors in charge of the army had no clue what was happening in reality. I cheered for Pierre in his quest to find meaning in his privileged existence. I admired Marya's stoicism. The philosophic passages more than once stopped me in my tracks to reread their insights.

Yes, it's really long (1350+ pages). No, I will not run around recommending it to everyone I meet. But I will say this: In my humble opinion, for the person who approaches this classic with respect and an open mind, there is a gold mine of observations about people, life, death, dreams, remorse, success, failure, and, yes, war and peace that is unrivaled in modern literature.

Peace~Lezlie

PS I do admit to trouble with the Epilogue, Part II. That is the longest 50 pages I ever read. . . :-)

I don't know what we did in high school English class. Apparently we didn't read books, because all of the things everyone seems to have read in high school, I missed out on. I say this, because whenever I mentioned to anyone I know that I was reading Brave New World, the response was always, "Didn't you have to read that in high school?" Same for Animal Farm, Catcher In The Rye, Huckleberry Finn, the list goes on. OK, missing Huck Finn was my own fault. I just plain didn't read it when it was assigned. But I remember that *because* we didn't have that many assigned. I must have thought, "We never read anything else. Why should I read this?"

Anyway, I digress. The lack of required reading in my high school English education was not the point of this post.

Brave New World is every bit as disturbing as it was meant to be. I loved the last 50+ pages, when the Controller explains to John, the Savage, the philosophy behind "civilization", where all needs are met with the press of a button or the pop of a pill and desires are carefully controlled via early "conditioning". It's hard to believe this book was written over 70 years ago. (It was published in 1932.) Much of it made me think of today's society and how we think we should have everything we want "right now" with a minimum of effort, how our lives should be geared simply toward overabundance of comfort and convenience in one form or another. Yet even though it appears many people's actions strive only to achieve personal success, comfort, and that elusive state of "happiness", misery and unrest seems more prevalent than ever.

This is one of my favorite quotes from Brave New World. The Controller is explaining to John why the lives of the "civilized" are so devoid of, well, life:

"Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over compensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand."

Perhaps "too much" is its own brand of poverty and "enough" is that for which we should seek. Or even a little bit of personal sacrifice.

Now that I've started to get a handle on things, I've begun to post reviews of books I've read. I don't really think "review" is the correct word to use, but lacking a more descriptive prospect off the top of my head, I'll just go with it. I'm not a critic, I'm not a literature major, I'm not an aspiring writing. I'm just a big fan of books. I don't really plan on posting "reviews" so much as simply my thoughts on the books, whether I liked them or not, and who else may enjoy them. I won't be rating them as my feelings on books tend to change as time goes on. I can never really tell if a book deserves a personal 4 or 5 star rating until long afer I've read it. It's only then that the truly memorable reveal themselves. Some may find my musings helpful or interesting, others may not. Fair enough. If I can help even just a few fellow readers discover a new favorite they may have otherwise missed, I'll call it a job well done!

Friday, January 18, 2008

I'm not a big advocate of American "bigger, better, more" consumerism, a topic I'm sure will get me on my soapbox periodically, but when it comes to bookstores, I can barely control myself. In fact, I've pretty much stopped trying. Thankfully, Peter is very understanding.

When I started the "1001 Books" project, the big question was: Own or borrow? I started out with borrow, then my "book collector" gene kicked in. I don't smoke, I don't really drink, I'm not much of a fashionista. . . Correction: I'm not *at all* a fashionista. My free $$$ goes to my pets and my book collection. Don't get me wrong. I visit the library about once a week for audiobooks and all the murder mysteries I'll most likely never read again. I love browsing the shelves and checking out books I'm curious about. But Borders and Barnes & Noble are always happy to see me. It's supposed to be sub-zero all weekend here in the frozen tundra with hideous wind chills reaching -25. Brrrrr! That was enough reason to make me weekly bookstore trip last night and pick up 4 more "1001" titles:

Cry, The Beloved CountryThe Thin ManRed HarvestThings Fall Apart

Barnes & Noble also has a "Buy 2, Get 1 Free" sale on their Barnes & Noble Classics. That little sale cost me a fortune last summer!! :-)

I predict a weekend of hot tea, warm blankets and great reading! (And hopefully a win for the Timberwolves! Hooowwwwlllllll! Go Wolves!)

Thursday, January 17, 2008

When I first began investigating the list of "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die" to see if it was really something I wanted to make a project out of, I randomly started looking up books I'd never heard of before on Amazon. Timbuktu was the first one I selected. With my love of dogs, it was absolutely fate which made that decision for me. It is about a dog. In fact, it's told from the point of view of said dog, Mr. Bones. Mr. Bones is owned by a homeless man, Willy Christmas, who is dying, and they both know that Mr. Bones needs to find a new master before Willy's time runs out.

As Willy and Mr. Bones travel their final days together searching for one of Willy's former high school teachers, Mr. Bones thinks about the years they have spent together and when the end for Willy finally comes, Mr. Bones takes all the lessons he's learned and sets out for his uncertain future.

That's all the specifics I'll tell you about the story. All I'll say further is that isn't the end. There's more. And it's worth every single Kleenex you'll use getting to the end. It's been a long, long time since a book got me that emotional. I tend to shy away from animal books, because, quite frankly, I can't handle it. But I'm very glad I took the chance with this one. It's not happy, but it's not completely sad either. I can't describe it properly. I laughed, I had moments of deep introspection, and I had a great soul-cleansing sob-fest with our dogs when it was all over. I would absolutely recommend this book, but don't forget to have that hanky handy.

And don't forget that things aren't always what they seem to be on the outside . . .

In the Booksmarks Dec./Nov. 2007 issue, they listed books that received some of the best overall reviews of 2007. One of my goals for 2008 is to read at least 10 books off the "literature" section of that list, not including the one I already read. Here is the complete list, and I will link the ones I decide to read to my reviews for them:

11/22/08 -- I have no excuse. I forgot all about this personal challenge. As of today, I am officially abandoning it and will use many of these titles for the 2007 section of the Countdown Challenge. See you there!

Completed: 3/10 as of May 18, 2008

The Aneid by Fagles Translation 5After Dark by Haruki Murakami4½Against The Day by Thomas Pynchon 4½American Youth by Phil LaMarche5Black Girl/White Girl by Joyce Carol Oates 4I'll Steal You Away by Niccolo Ammaniti 4In The Country Of Men by Hisham Matar 4Lost City Radio by Daniel Alarcon 4*Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin 4My Holocaust by Tova Reich 4½Nada by Carmen Laforet5Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult 4½Only Revolutions by Mark Z. Danielewski 4½Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson 4The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall 4½Then We Came To The End by Joshua Ferris 4A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini 4½What Is The What by Dave Eggers 4½

* Already read. Great book!!

The "rating" number following each book is from Booksmarks. They look at a number of reviews of the same books from different sources and then give an average. It's one of the aspects of the magazine that I really like. It's not just one opinion.

As long as I've jumped in already, why not make it two official challenges? You can catch the details of this challenge from the "Official Reading Challenge Sites" link in my side bar. I will keep track of my personal progress here, easily accessed by the "My Challenges" sidebar link. I'm having way too much fun with all of this!!

Lezlie

2/1/08 -- I made my spreadsheet to organize myself now that I've committed to so many Challenges, so I can now list nearly everything I plan to read. I'm undecided about a Q author at the moment. Amanda Quick and Daniel Quinn are the current front-runners. Thankfully, I don't have to decide right now. :-)

11/22/08 -- I've made the executive decision to abandon this challenge. I could fill in a lot more letters right now with what I've read, but I know I won't do "X". I'm just not interested. Nothing personal, X. It's not you, it's me. :-) I just have some other challenges I want to finish up instead. This one has been fun, but I don't think I'll pick it up for 2009. There are a bunch of there Challenges I want to try instead. I may come back to it some other year though!

Completed: 26/52 as of August 11, 2008Finished books are linked to my review

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

OK. I've changed my mind. And anyone who knows me gets pretty used to that in a hurry!

I've decided to plunge in and officially sign up for the Decades Reading Challenge. I don't know why this makes me nervous. It can't be the commitment to read. Making reading lists is pretty much a necessary life function for me. Kind of like breathing. A girl has to have goals, right? :-) It's probably just this newness to the whole blogging world.

This reading project is pretty simple. Read all of Agatha Christie's mysteries. Not too tough, right? Ha. There are, I believe, over 90 books, so this should keep me busy for a while! The nice thing about Agatha Christie is the books are fun, quick, interesting, and a wonderful break from heavier reading. I will update this list as I read and link it to the main page. Just FYI -- the list I'm working from was obtained at the Official Online Home of Agatha Christie. Unfortunately, I don't think the List by Publication Date is available there anymore. Bummer. Thankfully, I printed it out a couple of years ago. As I read them, I will keep the listing in proper publication order according to the information I have. Also, I'm focusing on the ones that were published in the U.S.

I've read the books that are in bold. The ones for which I have written a review are linked.

Updated: December 26, 2008

1. The Mysterious Affair at Styles2. The Secret Adversary3. The Murder on the Links4. The Man in the Brown Suit5. Poirot Investigates6. The Secret of Chimneys7. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd8. The Mystery of the Blue Train9. The Seven Dials Mystery10. Partners In Crime11. The Mysterious Mr. Quin12. The Murder at the Vicarage13. The Sittaford Myster14. Peril At End House15. The Thirteen Problems16. Lord Edgeware Dies17. Murder On The Orient Express18. Why Didn't They Ask Evans?19. Parker Pyne Investigates20. Three-Act Tragedy21. Death In The Clouds22. The A.B.C. Murders23. Murder In Mesopotamia24. Cards On The Table25. Dumb Witness26. Death On The Nile27. One, Two, Buckle My Shoe28. Evil Under The Sun29. N or M?30. The Body In The Library31. The Moving Finger32. Death Comes As The End33. The Labors of Hercules34. Crooked House35. They Came To Baghdad

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

I define a "reading challenge" as something I intend to finish within a 12 month period or less. A "reading project" may or may not have a deadline, but it will definitely be something I work on for more than a year.

I have chosen "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die" to be such a project. I know there has been a lot of discussion about this list/book and the books which have or have not been included. My feelings are this: Every single person or group of people who compiled a list such as this one would compile a different one, and none of them are wrong. It's an opinion. As I explored the possibilities of this particular version (1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, General Editor Peter Boxall), I found myself attracted to the huge amount of post-1900 books that were on it. I haven't read many modern "literature" novels, and I was fascinated with title after title and author after author I had never heard of or had passed over on the shelves of the bookstore. Will I agree with every choice that was included? Probably not. But I look at this list as a great opportunity to vastly broaden my personal reading horizons. As I type this, I plan on reading every book on the list. It remains to be seen if that remains the goal as I work my way through. In the meantime, I have already discovered some gems that I would have totally missed had I not discovered this list/book. Maybe someday I'll make my own list of 1001! How fun would that be?!

Short Works Read In 2009

This will include short stories, essays and poetry. I will mostly likely not post thoughts on every piece listed here, especially individual poems, but the ones I do write about will be linked. If you have any questions about any of them, feel free to ask! Every group of 10 short stories/essays will be counted as a single "book" in my final book count at the end of the year. However, none of these "books" will qualify for the initial 100 books in the 100+ Reading Challenge. I'm not yet sure how to count single poems. Let's see if I read enough of them to merit counting. If not, they're just good reading!

Short Stories:

"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates (Read Online)"Hansel and Gretel" by The Brothers Grimm (Read Online)"A Report to an Academy" by Franz Kafka (Read Online)

1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die

In an effort to clean things up and make room for the massive list of books I will read this year (if all these Challenges have anything to say about it!), this list of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die and my progress can now be found from the link on my sidebar under "Ongoing Reading Projects". Or just click here! :-)